One Per Cent

A London architectural firm wants to "grow" its next project beneath the ocean. To create the BioRock building, Exploration Architecture will place a toughened steel frame underwater and pass a small electric current through it. This will encourage dissolved calcium carbonate to precipitate all over the frame, building up a thick, chalky layer as strong as reinforced concrete. The final product will then simply be lugged out of the water for use as a performance space accommodating up to 50 people.

"I want to share this award with all the artists that live downstairs"Alfonso Cuarón accepts the best director BAFTA award for the film Gravity by thanking the team that created the film's groundbreaking special effects

Alert: long queue for lattes

Standing in line to buy coffee or at a supermarket checkout is a drag, so why not let your smartphone warn you of the need? An app called QueueVadis, developed at Keio University in Japan, senses the telltale shuffling of a slow- moving queue and sends the data to a server. Algorithms work out where the line is and its length and speed, and send the information to nearby users so they can decide if it's worth delaying their purchase. The app will be demonstrated at the HotMobile conference in Santa Barbara, California, later this month.

The sound of security

Inaudible codes beamed from your computer could soon offer seamless, more secure access to Google's Gmail and YouTube services now that the search giant has bought SlickLogin, an audio security start-up based in Tel Aviv, Israel. The idea simplifies two-step verification, in which users have to enter their password and then a code sent by text to their phone. SlickLogin has done away with that last fiddly step: an ultrasound code is beamed from your computer speakers to your phone, where an app responds by verifying your ID.

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